On Friday, November 2, Pakistan Embassy College Beijing (PECB) held its annual spelling bee contest for the junior section of the school. The spouse of the Suriname Ambassador to China, HE Mrs. Olivera Pinas, was present as the chief guest. A total of 13 students from classes 4 to 7 participated in the spelling bee after an intense two-week preparation period.
The competition started with Zaid from class 4, who had his first shot at spelling the word “temperature” which, he spelled correctly. As the competition wore on, each participant attempting to spell words that got tougher and tougher. Five contestants were eliminated after the first round followed by the elimination of four more contestants in the second round.
After the third round, only three participants remained: Khadija from class 4, Manal from class 5 and Jordy from class 7. It was a tough competition and the contestants were asked to spell five words. In the end, Khadija was awarded third place and left the stage to the last two contestants, Manal and Jordy, who competed to win the Championship round.
This round was perhaps the most interesting of all, as the two contestants battled hard to win. The tension among the students by now had built to a climax as they cheered the two students on. Both the contestants were on equal footing until the very end when Jordy misspelled the word “phenomenon.” Manal was awarded first place after correctly spelling the word “committee.”
Jun Wei Loh, 15, is the beijingkids student correspondent for the Pakistan Embassy College of Beijing. She is from Malaysia and is currently doing her O Levels at PECB. Although her favorite subjects are math and physics, she enjoys writing articles and is part of the newsletter editing team in her school. She is also attempting to write a novel and hopes to publish it one day. Her hobbies change from day to day depending on what mood she is in. The three things she wanted to try out one day are: parachuting, bungee jumping and piloting a plane.
Photos courtesy of PECB
The beijingkids student correspondent program gives high school students with an interest in writing and journalism a resource for guidance, feedback, and real-life training.If you are a student interested in becoming a beijingkids student correspondent, or you know a student who is, please contact ellisfriedman@beijing-kids.com
